This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-47073, filed on Aug. 3, 2001 in the Korean Patent Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a plasma display device, and more particularly, to a plasma display device with means for dissipating heat generated in a plasma display panel.
As is well known, a plasma display device uses discharge gas to realize an image. The discharge gas causes heat to be generated in a plasma display panel (PDP) on which the image is realized. Furthermore, when the discharge intensity is increased to improve the brightness, the heat generated in the plasma display panel is also further increased. Therefore, it is important to dissipate the heat out of the device.
Accordingly, the PDP is generally mounted on a chassis base having a high heat conductive property with a heat spreading sheet (or a heat conductive sheet) disposed therebetween so that the heat generated in the PDP can be dissipated through the chassis base and the heat spreading sheet. The chassis base can be formed by a die casting or press process with metal such as aluminum. The heat spreading sheet can be formed of a silicon resin.
Japanese laid-open Patent Nos. 10-40823 and 10-254372 disclose such a plasma display device.
To further improve the heat dissipating efficiency, it is important to effectively mount the heat spreading sheet. That is, the heat spreading sheet should be closely attached to both the PDP and the chassis base to increase the heat conductive efficiency.
However, when the chassis base is formed by the die casting process, it may not be formed in a complete flat state, but be partly round. Therefore, when the heat spreading sheet is attached to the rounded portion, air may be formed in a space between the contact surfaces of the chassis base and the heat spreading sheet.
Accordingly, when the air is formed in the space between the contact surfaces of the chassis base and the heat spreading sheet, heat dissipation becomes deteriorated due to the air. This problem may occur at the contact portion between the PDP and the heat spreading sheet as well as at the contact portion between the chassis base and the heat spreading sheet.
To overcome the above problems, Japanese laid-open Patent No. 10-172446 discloses a plasma display device in which an absorbing member is disposed enclosing the periphery of a PDP and liquid heat conductive media is injected into a space enclosed by the absorbing member and solidified. A display panel is attached on the solidified heat conductive media to improve the heat dissipating efficiency.
However, since the plasma display panel is generally mounted in a vertical direction, the heat generated on the upper portion of the device becomes naturally higher than the heat generated on the lower portion of the device. Therefore, the heat conductive means disposed between the PDP and the chassis should be disposed considering the heat distribution. In the prior art, however, because the heat conductive media is uniformly disposed without considering the heat distribution, the heat dissipation cannot be effectively realized throughout the entire area of the PDP.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above-described problems.
In accordance with the present invention, a plasma display device is provided that can effectively dissipate the heat generated in the PDP regardless of the structures of the chassis base and the PDP and the heat generation distribution of the PDP.
An embodiment of the present invention plasma display device includes a plasma display panel, a chassis base disposed in parallel with the plasma display panel, and a heat conductive media disposed between the plasma display panel and the chassis base. The heat conductive media is disposed such that a heat conductive rate is varied according to a location of the plasma display panel or the chassis base.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heat conductive media includes a plurality of heat conductive members disposed at a predetermined distance. The heat conductive members are disposed along a plurality of rows in parallel with each other, a distance between adjacent heat conductive members being different according to the rows. The distance is increasingly increased from an initial row to a last row, and an amount of each member is identical. Alternatively, the heat conductive members are disposed along a plurality of rows in parallel with each other, a distance between adjacent heat conductive members being identical. An area of the heat conductive members is increasingly decreased from an initial row to a last row.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the heat conductive media is formed of a single layer disposed between the plasma display panel and the chassis base. A thickness of the single layer is different from one end of the plasma display panel or the chassis base to the other end of the plasma display panel or the chassis base. The thickness is increasingly reduced from the one end to the other end.
The plasma display device may further include a spacer disposed between the plasma display panel and the chassis base to maintain a space between the plasma display panel and the chassis base. As an example, the spacer can be disposed at each corner between the plasma display panel and the chassis base. As another example, the spacer can be formed in a band-shape disposed around the periphery between the plasma display panel and the chassis base. The spacer can formed of a double-faced tape. A plurality of projections can be formed on a surface of the chassis base, on which the heat conductive media is attached.